Miles to go...

The Treadmill tried to kill me!

2008-03-14T07:02:00.003-04:00

EZ Run: 3mi @ 10:00
Ran: 3m @ 10:00

Today was supposed to be uneventful, a EZ 3 miles, the run itself was pretty much that. I did increase the incline .5 every half mile, ending at a 3% Grade. It's kind of amazing what a difference that makes. But over all it went well.

The Crazy part happened while I was warming up. We got to the gym around 5:20am and as is usual on Friday the it was a bit crowded, so all the "good" treadmills were taken. I went ahead and used a treadmill I had never used before. I stared out at a walk at 3:00, within a few second I was shocked when I touched the guard rail of the treadmill. Shortly I was shocked again. About half way through my .25mi warm up I reached down and touched the Heart Rate reader, and a giant ark of static shot from my finger into the sensor. And before I knew it the treadmill shot up to its maximum speed, and not gradually. I almost got thrown off the back of the thing. With a bit of effort I was able to slap the stop button before I went flying.

Needless to say I will not be using that treadmill again.

Tempo Run (4mi 2@8:30)

2008-03-13T07:30:00.003-04:00

Planned: 4mi - 2mi @ 8:30
Ran: 4mi - 2mi @ 8:27

This was the first time I have tried to step up the pace since I joined the gym. It went pretty well, but I have to admit the I the first mile was a bit difficult, at least mentally.

The only thing of note is that I had a hard time figuring out what pace to run for warm up and cool down, I never really settled, bouncing between 10:00 and 12:00. Oh well back to a simple EZ run tomorrow. I have to admit it is kind of nice not to be training for anything in particular for once.

The Winter of my Discontent.

2008-03-12T16:49:00.002-04:00

The few Friends and family who fallow this blog, are probably thinking i have dropped off the face of the Earth. Well not quite.

Things have been crazy at work, I have been splitting my time between 3 Different Games we have in development, as well as the art direction for the rest of the company. I have been working on several side projects, and to top it all off this has been the worse winter since I moved to Michigan. It has been difficult to say the least to run outside. Oh, and my treadmill is more or less dead.

Back in December, While I was still training for the Snowflake Run, which has come and gone, I got the flu, It took me off my feet for almost 2 weeks, and it took me another week to be able to run at all. Beside that I have been sick twice since then. I have tried to get back on the road ever since December, with mediocre results.

But winter is ending, and I have joined a gym, so its time to get back on the road. I am starting with a nice 10minute mile pace, I am going to use the rest of March to build back up to a 20plus Mile week.

So I am back to the blog, to get myself motivated. I still have allot of miles to go...

Snowflake Run (Week 2 - Day 1)

2007-12-04T07:53:00.000-05:00

EZ Run: 2miles @ 9:05
Planned: 2miles @ 9:10

One week seams to have gone along way to getting me back on my feet. Today's run was more the cake walk that I was expecting last Monday. Though I am now getting board by the treadmill alarmingly fast. I am going to have to set the TV back up before I go mad.

Snowflake Run (Week 1 - Day 4)

2007-12-04T07:44:00.000-05:00

Long Run: 6.6miles @ 9:05 - .5miles @ 6:57
Planned: 7Miles @ 9:10

How long dose it take to be board to tears on a treadmill, the answer seams to be 6.5 miles. I Can say that I am happy that I was able to do this run with no other problems then boredom. It seams my recovery plan is going well. I continued to have no further knee problems, and each run becomes easier, and more relaxing.

However I have to be careful not to fall into old bad habits ad start over running again. Slow an easy, is my motto for this winter. Slow and Easy.... sometimes equals boring.

Snowflake Run (Week 1 - Day 3)

2007-11-30T07:35:00.000-05:00

EZ Run: 2miles @ 9:05
Planned: 2miles @ 9:10

This run was more like what I was expecting of on Monday. Quick and easy, no discomfort at all.

The weather has turned cold, as in well below freezing, since the bulk of the next 6 weeks runs are short, I my end running the next six weeks on the treadmill.

Snowflake Run (Week 1 - Day 2)

2007-11-29T08:26:00.000-05:00

Speedwork: 5miles - 3x800m @ 3:26
Planned: 5miles - 3x800m @ 3:27

This was the first time in weeks that I ran any distance at any real speed. I was a bit concerned that It would be hard, or bring back my knee problems, but I am happy to say it smooth sailing.

I think this lighter program is going to work out well.

Snowflake Run (Week 1 - Day 1)

2007-11-27T07:04:00.001-05:00

EZ Run: 2miles @ 9:05
Planned: 2miles @ 9:10
It seams two weeks of not running have effected me more then I would have imagined. Bringing both positive and negative effects.

First the bad:,I have not run this slow "on purpose" in over a year, and yet it was not the cake walk I was expecting. I never felt like I needed to stop, but the fact that I felt any discomfort at all tells me I have fallen quite out of shape.
Also, I cant help but notice I have gained almost 10 pounds since the marathon, only 5 weeks ago. This is entirely my fault, but that wait dose not help my comfort Laval. I think It may be time to go back on a diet. I was hoping to avoid this, but what must be done, etc.

Ont the good side, I did not have any problems with my knees, sure it was a short slow run, but afterword I was able to go up the stairs without any hint of trouble. I think this lighter schedule is just what my knees asked for. I also have to admit that I kind of like being able to run in the morning without it taking a over a hour, 2 or 3 miles seams to be the sweet spot, for a morning run, if you want to finish it feeling awake and empowered, not beat up and exhausted.

Well, I'm back on track, or maybe I should say treadmill, the weather has already turned to full out winter outside, so it looks like most of this program will be done in the basement. Now the challenge is to push on through the winter.

Snowflake Run

2007-11-21T05:13:00.000-05:00

On Sunday I will not have run for 2 full weeks, this is the longest I have gone without running since I started running back in April of 06. I was have been having some problems with my knees, so I wanted to take a bit of a brake from doing long distances, so now with a few weeks off under my belt, I'm ready to start back up, and I'm going to force my self to take it easy for a while.

I spent some time looking around for a local 5k in January, a bit hard to fined in Michigan, and found the Flushing MI, Snowflake Run, on January 13th 08. This is a 5 and 10k races, but I have decided to stick with the 5, since the entire point is to cut my mileage for a bit. This only gives me 7 weeks to train, starting Monday. Once again I terned to RunnersWorlds SmartCoach for a plan.

I think this schedule is quite realistic, and should allow me to get back in the swing of things, and I should be able to use my race time as a baseline for a my next program, starting on the 21st of January, when I begin taring for the Cincinnati Marathon in May.

2000 Miles, some ups some downs...

2007-11-11T14:42:00.000-05:00

10Miles @ 10:00
Planned: 16 Miles @ 9:10

Well the good news first. This run Finlay put me over the 2000 mile mark on my Nilke +. My only complaint is that with the runs I have lost I should probably be more like 2200, but hey, I cant complain. I think I can officially say that the Nike + was worth the money. ;). I have know sure way to know, but I think I am at around 2500 hundred miles total since I started running back in April of 2005.

The bad news is less encouraging. I purposely was not blogging over the last 2 weeks because I was trying to decided if I was up to going to Vegas on December 2nd, to run the Las Vegas marathon. After Detroit I was feeling pretty positive, and wanting one last crack at a sub 4hour marathon in 2007. For some reason my knees are not to keen on this Idea.

It has been 3 weeks since the Marathon, I took 6 days off completely, and then tried to keep my miles down over the last 2 weeks. This seamed to be working well, but today's run went like poop. I think I am fighting off a cold, and perhaps losing, because I had to stop about 4 miles in because I thought I was going to puck. After a bit I realized I felt better if I just continued to run, and took it EZ. So I slowed my pace and cut my run down by 6 miles. Now that I have had a hour or so to think on It I think this problem was caused by not eating all morning, then downing some Gatorade and running out the door.

What this boils down to is I need a bit more recovery time before I start doing any kind of scheduled running. I am going to take next week almost completely off, and see what happens. The last thing I want to do is give myself some sort of serious knee enjoy, when a week or to of recovery should solve the problem.

So It looks like it will be 2008 before I get my sub 4 marathon. Currently I'm looking at Cincinnati, in may. But I can leave that decision for a while. Ill be back with more in a week or so.

Detroit 2007, The Race.

2007-10-21T19:18:00.000-04:00

Detroit Marathon: 26.2 Miles @ 9:34
Chip Time: 4:10:56
Place:
Overall: 1600 of 3819

Age group: 241 of 471.

Well, that's that.

While I missed my goal time, by 10 minutes, I am actually OK with the the race, over all.

I still hit the Wall, but allot later. I spent most of my effort keeping my pace controlled. Around 1 mile in I glued myself to a 3:55 pace group. And managed to stick with them, tell around mile 20. I crossed the 20 mile mark right on the schedule, at 3:00.

I noticed them pulling ahead but decided it was more important that I just kept running. So I let them go. The Wall did not truly hit my until around 23 miles. But when I hit it I hit it hard.

And to my shame I must admit, I walked, 3 times, the first time was just for a few seconds, right at the 23 mile mark. Then again around 24, for 200 or some meters. And last at the 25 mile mark. During these last 5 miles my pace went from a constant 8:58 to a dropping 10:00 to 12:00. I managed to pull it together for the final mile and finish with a respectable 9:30 or so. The crazy thing is that I lost 15 minutes off my time, all in the last 5 or 6 miles.

In the end I finished with a respectable 4:10:56. But feeling good, and over all happy with the results. The best part is I did not finish feeling like I messed up, or like I was just stupid. I felt like I acceded something, to be proud of, and walked away read for the next one.

Now its time for a nice rest, I will be back on the road in a week or so, and back on the blog around the same time.

PS. I seam to have lost my Ipod somewhere between Detroit and home, hopefully its just wedged in the car seat or the like. But I will be post the graph as soon as I found it.
(Found it, it somehow got clipped to the seat belt. ;)

10 Hours 29 minutes to go...

2007-10-20T20:39:00.000-04:00

Ok, tomorrow is the big day. And according to the website I have just over 10 hours of pain free life left.

I wanted to take this opportunity to sum up my Detroit 07 Training experience, as well do a few predictions based on what I have learned.

First off, training.

As some of you will know, last year when I trained for the LA Marathon, I was obsessive about staying on my training schedule. I am of the opinion I over trained, and it cost be, since thought I was in better shape then I was when race day came. I burned out in the first 10 miles, and rather then finishing at 3:30, I was lucky to come in at under 4:30.

This time I tried to relax my schedule, and my goals. I think this was a good plan. I am feeling allot more confident that I will be able to meat them. That said, I do think that perhaps I could have trained a bit smarter, and even a bit harder, this time. But my goal is not to run harder, its to run smarter. Over all I am content with my 16 week program, I only ended up missing 4 days total, and most of them Turing recovery weeks.

So, that said, here is my plan for tomorrow (with my reality hat on):

1 ) Run (No walking) the entire race, no stops.
2 ) Do not run to fast, If I ad more then 100ft each mile (About 10seconds) I will force myself to slow down.
3) Finish under 4 hours.

I based my training on running a 8:30 pace, this would give me a time of 3:42. However after all the trouble I had with the "Wall" I have decided to drop my goal pace down to 8:58. This will give me a finish time of 3:55. Giving me a 5 minute buffer, so even if I drop at the end I should still be able to come in sub 4:00. However, if by some miracle I feel good after 20 miles, I might try and pic things up and finish with 8:30, but that dose not seam to likely.

So wish me luck, I will post the results, tomorrow as soon as I can find my way home.

MIA (Detroit 07, Week 14, 15, and 16) Taper.

2007-10-20T16:09:00.000-04:00

I have not died, nor quit running. I am still running the marathon, I have just been VERY Busy, and blogging about my Taper weeks would have been about as interesting as watching paint dry.

I have several Large side projects, as well as a "crunch" going on at work, this translates into working 10-12 hour days at work, and 4 or so more hours each night. As well as most of the weekend. This has barely left me time to do my taper runs, and none to write about them.

So I will sum up the last 3 weeks. I ran to fast on the short runs, and had a hard time with the long runs. About the only thing worth mentioning is that my long run, the week after my above mentioned 20 miler, was horrid, I ran to fast, did not sleep or eat properly, and was in a bad mood to boot. The long run, last week was only 12 miles and it went very well, so in short. Some good runs, some bad runs.

Anyway. Back to work. Tomorrow is the Marathons, and I plan on doing a separate post later tonight about my game plan.

Much Better (Detroit 07, Week 13 Day 4)

2007-09-30T20:08:00.000-04:00

Long Run: 20Miles @ 8:53
Planned: 20Miles @ 9:00

I cant begin to say how much better I feel after this run. This was the first time I have every ran 20 miles under 9:00 without stopping or walking. This was my primary goal. I have run further in the past but not without walking.

I have been having such a hard time with the wall, for the last month. Today I pouched right through the Wall, and was able to run the last mile at at respectable 8:30, up hill. This week my entire goal was just not to walk, even if my pace dropped. Luckily since I had already decided to relax my pace back down to 9:00 for this run I was able to do this entire run without ever drooping behind my goal time.

I am going to treat this run as a kind of dress rehearsal for the marathon. I have officially decided to make my goal pace 9:00 instead of 8:30. This should allow me to keep on track and not burn out. And will still give me a planed finish time of 3:55, which will officially make me a Sub 4hour runner. Helping me secure better starting location in future races.

I don't know how much of the success of this run was due to my new shoes, but I can tell you for sure that they did not hurt the run at all. I think I my have found the right marathon running shoes. I will reserve final judgment until I have done a few weeks on them, but with 32 miles in them this week I am feeling pretty positive.

No Chart today since I had to restart my run at around 7 miles due to audiobook problems. And I ended up recording two. one 7 and one 13. Both were pretty accurate. But would just be confusing if I posted them.

Next week starts my taper. The hard part of training is over, lets just hope it was enough.

New Shoes (Detroit 2007, Week 13 Day 2 & 3)

2007-09-30T19:22:00.000-04:00

Wendsday (Day 2)
Pace Run: 6Miles @ 8:21
Planned: Tempo 6Miles - 4Miles @ 7:25

Since last week was kind of a unexpectedly bad time, I was a bit concerned about doing my speed work. So I decided to make some tweaks to this weeks schedule. So I replaced my speedwork with my Thursday Pace Run. And decided to do a EZ run Thursday.

I have been concerned that I need some more padded shoes. After doing some research I decided to try the Nike Air Pegasus. They are a nice neutral shoe, with more padding. Ironical they cost 10 bucks less then the Air Moires that I have been running in.

Thursday (Day 4)
EZ Run: 6Miles @ 8:34
Planned: 6Miles @ 8:30

This run went fine, the new shoes seam to be working out well. I am mostly trying to make sure that I am stretching, and letting my legs relax. Sunday's 20 Milers is about the only thing on my mind.

A bit Better (Detroit 07, Week 13 Day 1)

2007-09-25T07:55:00.000-04:00

EZ Run: 4miles @ 8:27
Planned: 4miles @ 8:45

I was worried about my run this morning, so for once I took some time to stretch before I went out. (Note... Well Da..) And it went much better. I did however run to fast. This I think is one of the underlying problems I have had with this training cycle.

Now that I think on it I think doing my pace runs at 8:30 my have been a mistake. The point of EZ runs is to build stamina without straining your body. I have only been doing one a week, instead of the 2 recommended by smart coach, and that one I have on average ran 15 seconds faster then I was supposed to.

Oh well, today I feel OK, so I am going to continue on as planned. But next time I will have alto to think about before I lock myself into a schedule.

Choppy Waters (Detroit 07, Week 12 Day 3 & 4)

2007-09-25T06:20:00.000-04:00

EZ Run: 6.09 miles @ 8:36
Planned: 6 miles @ 8:50

Apparently Finlay signing up for the Marathon was a invitation to trouble. This run went fine but left me feeling some pain in my knees, and with very stiff legs. I am not sure what this is but it certainly is not "Recovery".

Long Run: 10 Miles @ 8:46
Planned: 10 Miles @ 8:50

My legs did not really recover after my Thursday run, and I ween out on Sunday surprisingly stiff for a "Recovery" Week. I was in a funk the entire run, and my pace continued to drop thought. I would not have been under my planned pace if I had to took a break at 9miles and booked it the final miles (7:35).

I am still not sure what my problem was this week. But I am a bit concerned. I may have over ran the last 3 weeks, all of which ended with 20+ runs. If this is the case I may be in trouble.

Smooth Sailing (Detroit 07, Week 12 Day 3)

2007-09-20T21:11:00.000-04:00

EZ Run: 8miles @ 8:45
Planned: 8miles @ 8:50

As I had hoped this run was uneventful. I am feeling a bit more sour then I was expecting, considering this is a recovery week, but over all things went well. Next week may be different but for the moment I cant complain.

Oh, and I did Finlay officially sign up for the Marathon today, can't back out now.

Robert Jorden, I will miss you on my long runs.

2007-09-18T21:58:00.000-04:00

Sunday, the 16th or September 2007, James Oliver Rigney Jr., known to fans of his work as Robert Jordan, Passed away.

I know that this seems to have nothing to do with running, but it fact I dose. I have been running for a bit less then two years, I have run 1800 or so miles. I would not be surprised if at least 800 of those miles were run while listening to "The wheal of time" books, by Robert Jordan.

Many fans fantasy literature had problems with his work, saying it was two long, or two complicated. But these are the things that make the Wheal of Time a master Peace. About once a year I find my self starting the 11 book sires, and by the time I have finished I am so engrossed in the world he has created that It is seeping into my dreams. I don't know if any other writer will ever have the fortitude, or pull with the publishers to ever write anything of that scope again.

Sadly the wheel of time was left unfinished, He was trying to wrap things up in a final volume. Perhaps between his copious notes, and what progress he was able to make on book 12, the publishers will be able to have some one finish up. I hope they do. But I for one will always wonder what other stores could have been told.

The closest I ever came to Robert Jorden was in a elevator at Dragon*Con, in 2005. I did not say anything because I did not want to be just another fanboy, but now I wish I had. Just for the record, I will say what I should have then. Thank You, Thank You, Thank You.

Short Winded (Detroit 07, Week 12 Day 1)

2007-09-18T20:01:00.000-04:00

>EZ Run: 6miles @ 8:41
Planned: 6miles @ 8:50

I realize that my post have been getting log winded, and rambling. Today I will be brief, the run went fine. At the end I was hardly even sweating. This week is recovery so with luck this will be the case for the rest of the week.

Ups and Downs (Detroit 2007, Week 11 Day 4)

2007-09-17T20:25:00.000-04:00

Long Run: 20miles @ 8:54
planned: 20miles @ 8:50

Ups and downs, that pretty much describes this run to a tee. I was not feeling to to positive as I hit the road. But I managed to get out and moving while it was still cool. But after the first few miles I was feeling better. I decided to go on a new new route, I hit my first hill around 3.5 miles in, but since I was fresh I did not notice it to much. At mile 6.5 I hit a much bigger one. This one I defiantly noticed. But still I was above my pace.

Around mile 9 I was sure that this was going to be my best 20 miler yet. I knew that I was going to be able to finish without stopping. I was quite proud of myself for downing GU, and washing it down without stopping, or even losing time.

I continued to feel well, until around mile 11 when I hit yet another big hill, I felt seconds slipping away as I climbed it, and when I got to the top I decided I would book it down the other size. The crazy thing was, that I thought I was booking it but apparently I did speed up much at all. This is the point where I started to realize that I was losing a my momentum.

At the Half Marathon mark, I found myself overwhelmed with the urge to walk. It was only for a few minutes. I took off for another 3 miles, around mile 16 I hit the wall for real. I walked another 400m or so, and downed my last GU. With that I began the last 4 miles. Despite my best efforts I found myself walking after each of the remaining miles.

After I walked again at the end of mile 18, I decided to give what ever I had left up in the last mile. I walked around for a few minutes, stretched. Restarted my watch and hit it. Somehow I manage to finish the last mile in 7:21. This brought my average back up to a respectable 8:54.

The thing I want to know is this, If I had the energy to do a 7:21 mile after 19 miles. How come I could not manage to continue at a casual 9:00 or so with out taking walk brakes. I only have one more 20mile run before the race, and my only goal is to finish it without walking.

Chafing sucks (Detroit 07, Week 11 Day 3)

2007-09-14T21:22:00.000-04:00

Pace Run: 7miles @ 8:28
Planned: 7miles @ 8:30

After chocking on my speedwork on Thursday, I was not in to good of a mode. So on my way home I stopped to buy some new running gear, to lift my spirits. I got some new shorts and a shirt, as well as a new stick of Body Glide. This was because last weeks long run had given me quite the friction burn, in some sensitive places.

However I got started on my run a bit later then I had planned, I tried out my new shorts, and shirt, but forgot the Body Glide I realized this about 2 miles into my 7 miles. Needless to say I got to spend the rest of the day walking like a cowboy freshly of the range. Hopefully I will be recovered by Sunday. I can tell you what I wont be forgetting before I leave for that run.

Aside from all that the run went fine. I don't seam to have any problems with 8:30 in relatively short distances. I don't however, know how this would have gone had it been 17 miles instead of 7.

Count this as a skip. (Detroit 07, Week 11 Day 2)

2007-09-13T07:43:00.000-04:00

Speed work: 2 Miles - 1 @ 7:24
Planned: 7 Miles - 5 @ 7:30

This morning I got up feeling Sully, and late, I decided to force myself down to the treadmill and get my speedwork done.

I made it 2 miles. One mile warm up at 11:00 and one mile at my tempo pace at 7:24. The entire time I just wanted to stop. Since I have allot going on at work I wanted to get in at a decent hour, and I realized I was not going to make it if I continued the entire 7 miles. So I just called it.

I realize that this is a bad sign. Once again I am more convinced that I am over shooting again. The only thing worse then unrealistic goals. Is posting them on the Internet.

I'm going to go work and moan and do do my pace run tomorrow. And see.

Not so bad (Detroit 07, Week 11 Day 1)

2007-09-11T20:19:00.000-04:00

EZ Run: 4.31 Miles @ 8:38
Planned: 4Miles @ 8:50

Well, by the end of my run Sunday I was convinced that I would not be able to run for a week. I was convinced that I was going to be in at least as bad shape as I was after LA.

But to my surprise This morning I was feeling fine. For the first half mile or so I was a bit stiff, but by the time I hit mile one things had loosened up, I found myself ahead of pace. Since I was still feeling good, so I let myself continue to run a bit faster then planned. By the time I finessed I was was quite a bit ahead.

I am still convinced that I need re-think my goals. But I will wait to see how next weeks long run goes.

So Not Ready... (Detroit Week 10)

2007-09-09T17:21:00.001-04:00

OK, So like has been very busy this week so I have not been updating my running blog. So I am just going to do it in on fell swoop.

Wednesday:
EZ Run: 4 Miles @ 8:44
Planned: 4 Miles @ 8:50

Because of Dragon*Con I was not feeling up to running on Tuesday, so I moved my EZ run to Wednesday. All went well, as a matter of fact it went very easily, making me feel a bit less bad about missing the last 2 days of week 9.

Thursday:
Speedwork: 8miles - 4miles @ 6:58
Planned: 8miles - 4miles @ 7:00

I ran this on the treadmill, and it went pretty well, the last mile at speed was quite hard, but I did not feel unnaturally tired afterword. Over all was pretty happy with it.

Friday:
Pace Run: 4miles @ 8:27
Planned: 4miles @ 8:30

Once more I hit the treadmill for this run, mostly because it is getting light later. And I needed to get to work early. This also went well. I finished feeling quite positive.

Sunday:
Long Run: 22.5 Miles @ 9:04 (I think)
Planned: 24 Miles @ 8:50

This run brought me back to reality, and brought about the realization that I far from ready for the marathon. I still have 6 weeks, but half of that is taper.

This run was particulary anoying because, When I had my wife drop me off 24 miles from the house (So I could run back home), I found out my Garmin was not working. So I had to trust my Nike+iPod. This went ok but I am pritty sure it was quite a bit off. The entire run was more like 24.5 miles. But I walked around 1.5 to 2 miles. I am pritty sure I ran to fast for the first 10 miles

What I realized today was that I need change my way of thinking, about running. I realize now that I need to one of two things. Either, I need to either get more serous about training, or get back to enjoying running for itself. This had brought me to a few realizations, In short I am going to relax a bit. More on that later.